Complications and Confessions
by Laura x Tennant
Summary: Excerpt: "..in one split second I was presented with a way to alleviate this, this, this thing that we have between us by inviting him, and foolishly I thought I could do it, that I could stand around and watch you fall back in love with him."
1. Chapter 1

**_Complications and Confessions_**

-:-

"So what are you gonna do next?" asked Jackie curiously, sitting down beside Rose. The Doctor had brought them back to visit her for the day so that Mickey could tell her about his first couple of adventures in time and space. They had just finished dinner, and so Mickey had gone back to his own flat for a bit to get some more clothes, and the Doctor had disappeared into the TARDIS so that Jackie and Rose could have some mother-daughter time before they went back to the stars.

"Honestly?" replied Rose. "I don't know what to do." She sighed sadly, bit her lip and glanced away.

"Sweetheart? What is it? What's wrong?"

"Just...stuff."

Her mum wrapped a comforting arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Talk to me," Jackie murmured. "You never know, I might be able to help. What's wrong, darling?"

Rose hugged the cushion to her stomach and let out a groan of frustration, dropping her head in embarrassment. "I can't decide what's best for my heart," she admitted, and then winced.

Jackie's brow furrowed in confusion. "Sorry, love, I don't quite understand?"

"Yes. Exactly," Rose muttered. "Bloody _love. _Why can't it just be simple? Why does everything have to be some flipping _complicated?_"

"Rose, come on. Stop talking in riddles, you sound like that Doctor of yours," Jackie chided good-naturedly.

"He's not though, is he," she mumbled next, leaning back on the sofa, "Not really." She turned her head to look at her mum. "What do I do?"

"Well how should I know?" answered Jackie. "You won't bloody tell me what's wrong!"

Rose huffed impatiently and quickly clarified, "Do I choose the man who loves me or the man I love?"

Jackie blinked at her for a few moments, then laughed. This was the response Rose neither expected nor desired.

"What?" Rose demanded. "Why are you laughing?"

"Sweetheart, in your situation, I was under the impression that they are the same thing."

"I don't love Mickey anymore, Mum. Not...in that way."

"I wasn't talking about Mickey."

Rose rolled her eyes. "The _Doctor? _Mum, the Doctor...he's not like that. _We're _not like that. I've told you this a million times...plus, you know...remember, he's changed now. He's...different."

"But you still love him," Jackie stated firmly, because she knew it to be true. The Doctor had only regenerated a couple of months ago, but already Jackie could see that Rose looked at him like she'd known and loved _this _version of him all along.

Her daughter pulled a face of annoyance and nodded. "Unfortunately yes," she muttered.

"Why is it unfortunate?" replied Jackie. Rose raised a dubious eyebrow. "No, look, listen to me, Rose. I know it's taken me awhile to get used to him being in our lives, but I'm not bloody blind. Even if he does put you in danger every month, anyone can see that he loves you from the roots of your hair to your stripy socks."

Rose swallowed thickly and stared at said socks to avoid her mother's eye. "Okay, so maybe I admit that I thought perhaps he did, once, but now..." She shrugged. "Now I'm not so sure. Whereas Mickey told me yesterday that _he _still loves me. But I've already told the Doctor that I'm gonna travel with him for the rest of my life. But then he had this thing with a French courtesan and I -"

"He. Did. _What?" _Jackie screeched, getting progressively louder with each syllable.

Rose grabbed her mother to stop her leaping off the sofa to go in search of him. "Leave it, Mum. He's already apologised, anyway, which was...weird."

Jackie still looked angry, but she tilted her head in triumph to at least say, "Well, there you go then. Proves it. If he apologised, it means he was aware that there's something between you two that he could've potentially ruined."

"Nah, I think he was apologising more for the fact that he left me and Mickey on a spaceship in the fifty-first century while he disappeared off to _potentially_ not come back."

"He did WHAT?" Jackie exclaimed again.

"I wouldn't have ever stopped trying to get back to you, Rose Tyler," came a quiet voice from the doorway. "Past versions of me pop up loads of times throughout the centuries. I'd've faced the excruciating frustration of conversing with a past-self and gotten them to bring me to you."

Rose had frozen the second his first word announced his presence. Jackie slowly turned her head, her eyes alight with fury as they landed on the Doctor. "You!" she shrieked, launching herself up and around the sofa, marching up to him. "I could slap you."

The Doctor stood still - his hands in his pockets – and winced a bit, but graciously offered, "Yeah, you could. Might knock some sense into me."

Rose remained silent and shell-shocked.

Jackie stared at him in surprise. Then, "Alright, then," she said, and slapped him around the face.

The Doctor stepped back, hands clutching his cheek, and then accidently hit his head on the doorframe. "Oww!" He shook his head, letting out a long exhale of breath. "Blimey! Forgot how much that slap of yours hurts," he told her. Then he lowered his voice to murmur, "Can you..." He tilted his head towards the kitchen. Jackie raised her eyebrows. "Please?" he tried. "I need to talk to Rose. Alone. Plus, a cuppa would be lovely." He smiled beseechingly at her. Jackie rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the way, and left them alone.

Rose was still staring at the spot on the sofa her mother had vacated previously, so he cleared his throat a little to garner her attention as he approached. Finally, she moved her head to look at him. "You shouldn't listen in on people's conversations," she murmured hoarsely. She was embarrassed when tears filled her eyes as she spoke, and so she glanced away again, blinking furiously.

The Doctor flopped down onto the sofa next to her and took her hand, squeezing it between both of his. "I have a few confessions," he told her, trying to ignore the ache in his chest that he felt at seeing her trying not to cry.

"Oh?" she asked quietly, then giggled to try and stop herself being so irrationally emotional, "Thought it'd be a few more than a few, what with nine centuries and all that."

"Weeelll," he drawled, lifting a hand to tug his ear. "I've got to save some for another rainy day, so I'll just confess a few for now," he offered. As he lowered his hand from his ear, he casually dropped his arm to the back of the sofa, so that it was partially around her but not quite touching. A thought occurred to him, and he coughed awkwardly. "Where's Mickey?"

"He's at his flat, picking up a few things," she answered. The flicker of her eyes to his arm told him that she'd noticed his maybe not-so-subtle-after-all movement. But he did not withdraw his arm from its position half-around her, for she didn't seem opposed to its location.

On the contrary, he was pleasantly surprised when Rose suddenly tumbled forwards and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. His arms subsequently – and rather instantaneously – hugged her back, and he exhaled in relief that they were hugging again. The last couple of days, she'd moved away whenever he'd tried to initiate one. It had consistently put a lump in his throat; one which he hadn't been able to dislodge until now.

The Doctor laid back a bit so that they were in optimum cuddling position on the sofa, then buried his nose into her hair and murmured, "I invited Mickey along with us because I thought some distance between me and you would be useful, and I thought that he and you might get back together. I am also a complete idiot on occasion and thus within the first ten minutes of him coming on board – you remember, when he sat in my seat at the kitchen table? Next to you? – I realised that I cannot in the slightest deal with that possibility, nor do I in any way, shape or form feel any different towards you despite my attempt to give myself some space to just, sort of, well, recollect that rational, uninterested, somewhat asexual Time Lord I used to be before I met you."

Rose made a few sounds against his chest, and the Doctor wasn't sure whether she was crying or laughing or both. "Rose?" he ventured hesitantly, gently putting his hand beneath her chin to lift her head up to face him. She tried to blow her hair away from her eyes but it stubbornly fell back, so the Doctor helpfully tucked the loose strands behind her ear for her, finally able to see her clearly. There were a couple of tears on her eyelashes, but she was smiling, and a giggle burst forth from her lips while he surveyed her.

"What's so funny?" he murmured, his own lips tugging into a smile in response.

"You're just..." She shook her head in amazement. "So _daft."_

"Oh." His smile slipped a bit. "Thanks."

Her expression grew more serious too, and she shifted so that she could rest her head on his shoulder but still be able to look up at him. "You can't keep trying to manipulate me by trying to force me into feeling things I don't want to feel anymore - "

"When have I manipulated you into _that?" _he interrupted petulantly.

"You just said it!" she replied. "Trying to get me back into a situation with Mickey. It's not fair on any of us, especially not him. Me and him were over, and then you go and do all these things and now he half-thinks it'll be possible for us to get back together, but I don't _want _him, Doctor. God, I know it's so selfish but I just...I just can't be with him like that, not anymore. I still need him in my life, I still need him to be my friend, but I'm not in love with him."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor murmured earnestly. "I am. I just thought...well. I didn't really think, I s'pose."

Her forehead scrunched up in thought. "What would you have done, anyway?"

"Hmm?"

"Say I just...left. Told you now that I was gonna give things a go with Mickey again, and stay here on Earth. What would you do? Would you let me go without a word? Or would you try to stop me?"

"I..." He closed his eyes for a few seconds, taking in a deep breath. It hurt just to think about it. Then, he stared down into her eyes, and answered honestly, "I would do everything possible to persuade you to stay with me."

"Would you, though?" she asked, still doubtful.

"I told you that you could spend the rest of your life with me. I meant it. You could. And I want you to. And I hope you will. But in one split second I was presented with a way to alleviate this, this, this _thing _that we have between us by inviting him, and foolishly I thought I could do it, that I could stand around and watch you fall back in love with him."

"And you can't?"

"No."

"Why?" she prompted.

The Doctor sighed heavily then admitted in a rush of breath, "Because it's utterly impossible for _me_ to ever fall _out _of love with _you."_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Part 2**_

-:-

"Oh," she whispered. "Right."

Then she stared at him in silence for the next forty seconds and most definitely didn't say what he wanted her to say, and the Doctor thought his hearts might possibly break by the end of the night.

A key turned in the front door's lock, and Mickey came in, holding a rucksack and a small suitcase. "Back!" he called, coming into Jackie's living room.

The Doctor cleared his throat sharply and broke Rose's gaze. "Hi Mickey!" he said jovially, jumping to his feet. "Shall we get those bags onto the TARDIS now, then? I think Jackie's making us all a cup of tea, so after that we'll be off."

Mickey shrugged. "Alright."

When he and Mickey stepped into the TARDIS, which he had landed in Rose's old bedroom earlier in the day, the Doctor shut the doors and leant against them, closing his eyes and exhaling roughly. Mickey chucked his bags onto the jumpseat and turned back to face the Doctor. Seeing his anxious expression, Mickey asked, "What's up, Boss?"

The Doctor rubbed wearily at his eyes. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

He met his gaze steadily. "I'm sorry, Mickey."

Mickey folded his arms as he walked over to him. "Why?"

The Doctor coughed uncomfortably. "Well. Um. You still..."

"Still what?"

"You still love her, don't you," he said softly. It wasn't really a question.

Mickey sighed. "I do, yeah." He scuffed his trainer against the grating. "Don't mean I expect to get her back, though."

The Doctor's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Mickey gestured between the two of them to demonstrate his point. "Me: human mechanic who lives on a council estate. You: Time Lord with his own space-and-time-travel machine. Doesn't take a genius to work out who she's gonna choose, in the end." He paused, and stepped closer to the Doctor, who swallowed hard but did not reply. "Except, she knows I won't hurt her. So, if you keep hurting her, she'll change her mind."

"I don't think she's really made _up_ her mind, Mickey."

"You're such an idiot," Mickey scoffed good-naturedly. "If only you'd man up and tell her how you feel, then she'd - "

"I just did," the Doctor interrupted him quietly.

"What?"

"I just told her that I'm in love with her."

Mickey raised his eyebrows. He tried in vain to swallow against the lump forming in his throat. "Oh. Well, then. What did she say?"

The Doctor glanced at the console. "Nothing. She said nothing. Weeelll, actually, her first response was 'Oh. Right.' Then she stayed silent and just stared at me. Then you came back."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave a small shrug. "So. Maybe she doesn't want either of us like that. Maybe she wants us all to just...travel together and be friends."

"Nah, you can't fool me – or yourself - with that," said Mickey, shaking his head. "You have to admit there's something between you two, something..." He paused, swallowing thickly. "Something special. Besides, she was too upset about the Reinette thing for her not to feel anything for you other than friendship."

The Doctor winced. "Well, then maybe I've cocked everything up for good now."

Mickey shrugged. "I think she's forgiven you already. She's probably just shocked. At least she knows, now. It's up to her."

"What's up to her?"

"Who she chooses," Mickey explained. "Because now she knows for sure that both of us love her. It's up to her to choose which one of us _she _loves."

"Or neither of us," put in the Doctor.

"Yeah, maybe," Mickey agreed.

The Doctor sighed heavily. "So whichever way we look at it, at least one of us is going to end up heartbroken and alone."

"Yep."

"Great."

"Yeah. For the record, if she chooses you – ah." Mickey paused, glancing over the Doctor's shoulder.

"Are you two in here gossiping about me?" asked Rose, raising an eyebrow as she leant against the doorframe of the TARDIS.

The Doctor spun around to face her and tugged on his ear awkwardly. "Not at all!" he promised. "Were we, Mickey?"

She narrowed her eyes at them both, and walked up the ramp to where they were standing. "Then who is it that has to choose between you?" she asked. The men both winced. "See what happens when people eavesdrop, Doctor?" she said, sending him a triumphant smile. "Not nice, is it? Something else that isn't nice: being talked about like that."

"I'm sorry," said the Doctor. He gave a small shrug. "But then, you did say the Mickey thing was all my fault, so I thought I'd try and sort it out myself."

"What Mickey thing?" asked Mickey.

"Doctor," Rose said warningly.

"She thinks that me inviting you onto the TARDIS and then proceeding to act like an idiot has meant that you now think it's possible for the two of you to get back together."

"Doctor!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he replied. "That's what you said, wasn't it?"

"Doesn't mean you have to - !" she broke off and turned to Mickey. "Sorry, Mickey. I didn't mean for it to sound so..."

"It's not, then? Even possible?" he asked her quietly.

Her heart sank at having to tell him this. "I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking her head as her answer.

"Okay," he accepted quietly. "Okay. I think...I think I knew that already, really. And it's okay."

Tears glistened in Rose's eyes. "Really though Mickey, I'm so sorry."

"I know," he smiled gently, placing his hand briefly on her shoulder to give it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay."

"You'll stay, though?" she asked hopefully. "With us, I mean? On the TARDIS?"

Mickey glanced at the Doctor. "Is it alright with you if I stay? I'd still like to see more of what time and space has to offer."

"Of course you can stay," answered the Doctor.

Mickey smiled gratefully at him and joked, "Bet you're only saying that because now you know I'm not going to steal Rose away from you."

"Can the pair of you stop thinking of me like I'm some sort of possession, please?" she asked, folding her arms.

"I didn't mean it like that," apologised Mickey.

Rose nodded then looked at the Doctor. His gaze softened and he murmured, "You know how I feel about you. Sometimes I may act possessive, but it's not because I think of you as a possession. It's just...jealousy, I s'pose."

She was quiet for a moment and then cleared her throat. "Right, well, Mum's made us all tea, so..." She nodded her head towards the TARDIS doors. "I s'pose we'd best get back out there."

The two men agreed and somewhat awkwardly started to leave the TARDIS, Rose walking between them. Mickey exited first, and the Doctor took the opportunity to grasp Rose's arm gently to turn her towards him before they left. He wanted to speak to her without anyone else overhearing.

"Doctor, the tea - " Rose started to protest, but the Doctor cut her off.

"Rose, I need to know," he whispered, his voice catching. "Do you forgive me?"

She met his gaze intently. "I don't know if I have a right to forgive you in the first place."

"Then I'm telling you now that you do," he replied impatiently. "Because my foolish hearts belong to you and I don't want you to think any different. So do you forgive me?"

"I do," she whispered back. Her eyes twinkled with unshed moisture as she watched him exhale in relief.

"Thank you," he told her earnestly.

"No problem," she replied, a bit choked up. She waved her hand in the direction of the door. "We'd better..."

He nodded quickly and let go of her arm. "Yes. Yes, of course."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Part 3**_

-:-

They all congregated in Jackie's living room for a cup of tea. Mickey and Jackie had already sat down in opposite armchairs, so Rose and the Doctor were left the sofa to share. They sat down in sync with about eleven inches of space between them, which was the most space they'd had between them on that sofa for ages. Everyone silently sipped at their tea.

The Doctor thought to himself that it was probably the most awkward silence in the history of humanity ever.

Jackie looked between them all hesitantly, trying to think of something to talk about that wasn't directly related to any of them and the unwitting love triangle or whatever that was dividing them at the moment. "So..." she began, over-compensating for the silence by talking louder than usual. "Marie downstairs has bought a car." She winced. How interesting was that. Someone's bought a car. Wahay. Way to kick-start some dialogue.

"What type of car?" piped up Mickey encouragingly.

"Er..." Jackie floundered. "Sort of...red."

"Right," Mickey nodded.

Rose coughed awkwardly and stood up. "I'm gonna go get ready for bed," she announced, placing her mug on the coffee table.

The Doctor stared up at her in confusion, a little scared. Jackie voiced his inner turmoil for him, "I thought you were leaving tonight?"

Rose glanced at the Doctor. "I'd like to stay for the night, if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," he murmured, sounding a bit lost. "I'll, um. I'll move the TARDIS so that you can have some more room in your bedroom - "

"No!" she interrupted quickly, her eyes widening in barely-concealed panic. "No, I still want to sleep on the TARDIS, I just don't want us to go anywhere. I'd like you to keep her where she is until the morning. If you...if you don't mind?"

He smiled, relieved. "Yes, that's, that's absolutely fine, perfect, wonderful," he replied.

Rose smiled back and turned to her mum. "I just thought it might be nice for us to have breakfast together tomorrow," she explained. "I'm quite tired now but I still have stuff I want to talk to you about, Mum."

"Yes, that'll be lovely darling," Jackie replied, standing up to give her a hug goodnight. "See you in the morning, then. We can have a nice chat over a fry up, eh?"

"Thanks," Rose smiled, hugging her mum back tightly. When she pulled back she said, "Goodnight Mickey." She paused and glanced at the Doctor. "Night," she finished softly.

The Doctor swallowed thickly and simply nodded. Rose left and went back aboard the TARDIS to her bedroom. The Doctor's head slumped back against the sofa and he sighed loudly.

"What's wrong?" Jackie asked him quietly.

"I have absolutely no idea what is going through her mind right now," he admitted regretfully. "One minute I think things are fine again, the next she says something and I wonder if she's going to stay here, the next...oh, I dunno. I'm just..." He closed his eyes and sighed again. "I don't know what to do."

"She was worried, when you said you'd move the TARDIS, that you were gonna up and leave her," said Jackie helpfully.

The Doctor opened his eyes and stared at her in surprise. "What?"

"She's got all these conflicting thoughts in her head and _she _doesn't know what to do right now. You just need to give her some time, sweetheart."

"Time. Right. Yes. Well, time, time's easy, got plenty of time, me," he murmured to himself.

Mickey drained the rest of his tea in one gulp and stood up. "Gonna go sort out my clothes and stuff and then get some kip myself," he said. "You sure it's alright for me to come with you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," replied the Doctor honestly. "Yeah, it is." Mickey started to leave and the Doctor quickly added, "You're not going to - "

"No, I'm not going to find Rose's bedroom," he replied knowingly, rolling his eyes. Jackie saw this and giggled. "Not that that TARDIS of yours would ever let me, anyway."

The Doctor's lips twitched. "Right." He paused, then called Mickey back again. "Oh! Mickey, um...what were you going to say, earlier? Before Rose walked in? When you said, 'for the record...?'"

Mickey smiled sadly. "I was gonna say, if she does choose you, I'll be happy for her. For both of you." He tilted his head in brief contemplation. "I hate to say it, but I think you're probably made for each other."

Jackie pressed her lips together, blinking back tears, and the Doctor looked touched. "That's...um, thanks, Mickey," the Time Lord murmured.

Mickey shrugged modestly, said goodnight to them both, and left the room.

"And then there were two," the Doctor said.

Jackie got up and sat down next to him, placing her hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly. He looked vaguely horrified for a moment, but then he looked at her and saw her struggling to get her words out past her tearful eyes.

"Doctor. He's...he's right, you know," she spoke softly. She raised her hands to her face and hastily wiped at her eyes. "God knows it's taken you and her so much longer to see it, but me and Mickey saw it ages ago. It's so weird and confusing, but you, great big idiot Time Lord that you are, and my gorgeous little human girl, you just _fit, _yeah? I see you look at her, and the way she looks back at you, and I see so much love there I can't even..." she broke off, swallowing against a lump in her throat. "I know you can't make promises. I get that you can't offer her a normal life. And maybe one day I'll see her in so much danger that I'll resent you for that, for taking her away from me. But at the moment, with her and you sitting around on the edge of something brilliant, I can't begrudge you anything. I just can't. She's so happy when she's with you and I think she makes you happy too."

The Doctor smiled. "Oh Jackie, I'm the happiest man in the entire universe when she's with me."

Jackie smiled back. "Thought so. The look on your face when she's in the room says it all."

The Doctor blushed a little and tugged on his ear awkwardly. "Weeelll..."

"I know you can't make promises, not with your lifestyle," Jackie said again. "You can't promise me she'll always be safe, and you can't promise me that you'll always bring her back to me. But please promise me you'll try and make her as happy as possible for as long as possible."

He nodded. "I promise."

"And that you won't ever just...just leave her here without telling her why, without saying goodbye."

"I promise. After all, I'm too selfish to let her go," he replied.

"That's not selfish," Jackie disagreed, shaking her head. "It just means you love her." She stood up. "There, that's that over with. Now we can go back to fighting with each other."

The Doctor laughed. "I thought that you being nice to me seemed too good to be true."

"I'm always nice to you!" she countered. "You're just insufferably rude sometimes and I have to retaliate."

"Oh of course, my mistake," he smirked.

"Anyway," she continued, as she walked out of the living room carrying the mugs to the kitchen. "What are mother-in-laws for if not that, eh?"

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Blimey," he whispered. He raised his voice and poked his head around the kitchen door to remind her, "Listen, Jackie, I never mentioned anything about marriage - "

"Only a matter of time, though!" she replied cheerfully, sending him a smug look.

The Doctor gulped. "Yeah, I'm going to go and tinker with the TARDIS console for a bit. See you tomorrow," he told her, and quickly fled back to his ship.

Jackie laughed and did the washing up, before going to bed herself with a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Part 4**_

-:-

Once the Doctor was back inside the console room, he took off his jacket and haphazardly tossed it over a coral strut, before sinking down on the jumpseat. He propped his legs up on the edge of the console, crossing them at the ankles, and wondered whether or not Rose would appreciate it if he went to her room right now to continue their conversation. He couldn't tell whether she had just been making excuses to get away from everyone earlier, when she said she was going to bed, and if she had been, did everyone include him, or was she hoping he'd follow her?

After ten minutes sitting there contemplating his next actions, Rose appeared in front of him, wrapped up in her dressing gown. He was startled out of his thinky thoughts and scrambled to sit up straight, murmuring hello and offering her a place to sit beside him. She shook her head, declining the seat. He swallowed hard as he wondered why.

She leant back against the console and let out a long breath. "Soooo."

"So?"

"I've been waiting for you," she murmured, fiddling nervously with the sash of her dressing gown. "I thought maybe we should talk, away from Mum and Mickey."

"I wasn't sure if you'd be grateful for my presence at the moment," he admitted, staring at her intently.

She met his eyes and told him with a quiet smile, "I'm always grateful for your presence."

He smiled back at her and confessed, "Well, vice versa."

"Did you mean it?" she whispered.

"Did I mean what?"

"Don't be a git," she chided playfully, nudging his leg with her foot. He grabbed it with a grin and tugged her forwards, and she laughed as she had to hop the short distance to him on one leg. "You_ know_ what," she continued softly, falling against him slightly as she collapsed beside him on the jumpseat.

He drew her into a one-armed hug and whispered into her hair, "Yes, I meant it. Of course I meant it." He kissed the top of her head and then leant down to press his forehead against hers for a lingering few moments, before drawing back. Rose wanted to reassure him that he no longer needed to draw back from these moments. That really, he never had.

She tucked her legs beneath her as she knelt on the jumpseat, and gently cupped his face with her hands. "Doctor," she murmured breathlessly, feeling nervous and reckless and all things excited.

"Yes, Rose?" His own hands slipped to her sides and grabbed fistfuls of her fluffy dressing gown, pulling her closer to him.

She tilted her head and leant forwards; watched him mimic her action. And then, slowly, sliding her hands into his hair, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips. At first, he didn't respond, and Rose drew back slightly, fearing rejection. But the moment her lips left his, he leant forwards to recapture them. She smiled in relief and felt him do the same, and then he opened his mouth beneath hers, deepening the kiss.

He deftly manoeuvred her onto his lap, using his grip on her dressing gown to tug her tightly against him, moaning into her mouth as her legs slipped either side of his hips and trapped him on the jumpseat. His hands wandered from her waist to her thighs, seeking out the bottom of her dressing gown, sliding his hands beneath it to travel up her legs. He ascertained from his explorations that she was wearing rather small pyjama shorts and a camisole top, and his desire-fuelled thoughts couldn't wait to discard the unnecessary pieces of fabric.

Then Rose tore her mouth away from his, gasping, dropping her head to his shoulder to catch her breath. He turned his face into her neck, kissing his way down to her collar bone, nipping lightly at the skin, causing her to move against him very nicely indeed. "Rose," he whispered, nuzzling her dressing gown out of the way to kiss her shoulder. "Rose, Rose, Rose." His hands when to the sash and untied it, and he was instantly attempting to push it off her.

"Wait," she murmured. "Stop." The way she spoke the words sounded like she wanted anything but for him to stop, but he complied nonetheless, his hands stilling, his head turning to meet her gaze. They stared at each other, breathless, chests heaving. Nervous. Excited. Impatient. "I..." she continued hoarsely, then broke off, clearing her throat. "I think, maybe, we should, um...slow down."

"Yeah," he exhaled roughly. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"You're supposed to say the opposite and try and convince me to just...be spontaneous," she complained teasingly, biting her lip and shaking her head at herself.

"Oh. Sorry?" he offered sheepishly. Then he admitted, "I don't know what's best, Rose. Maybe you're right and we should wait. I don't want you to regret this. I couldn't bear it."

"Would you regret this?" she countered in a quiet voice.

"Only if it's not what you really want," he shrugged.

Her hands slipped from his hair and she placed them against his chest, a palm over each heart. "I'm completely sure this is what I want, don't think it isn't. It's just... Maybe we should take things slowly, yeah? It's all happening so fast; it was only a few days ago that you'd resigned yourself to pushing me away, and now you've changed your mind and told me that you...well, you know, and...what if you change your mind again?"

"I won't," he promised. "But I suppose it is a bit...uh, disrespectful, in a way, to conduct such activities while Mickey's just down the corridor."

Rose nodded. "Yeah."

"So we should stop."

"Yeah."

They silently stared at each other again, more intensely this time. Neither had any more doubts regarding whether the other wanted this. Their longing for each other was palpable.

"So, um," Rose began again, swallowing thickly. "I should probably not carry on sitting in your lap."

"Probably not, no," he agreed with a chuckle.

She didn't move off.

"I should probably take my hands off your thighs," the Doctor pondered.

"Yeah," she agreed shakily.

He didn't.

"It's late," Rose said next. "I should go to bed."

"Yeah, you should."

"Alone."

"Yes."

"With my pyjamas...definitely still on."

He gulped audibly. "Yes."

"Yeah." She paused. "So. What'll you do while I'm asleep?"

He coughed awkwardly and blushed quite pink. "I'll...uh, have a shower," he squeaked. "And then get some sleep myself."

Rose nodded slowly. "Nothing...else?" she asked innocently.

"Rose," he warned.

"It's just..." she continued, a teasing sparkle in her eye, and for one long moment she wriggled above him to indicate her point, "This shouldn't go unnoticed."

"Rose!" he hissed loudly. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't – don't...don't do that."

"Well, I'm only asking 'cos I'm gonna need something to fantasise about while we restrict ourselves to kissing for the time being."

He lifted an eyebrow. "You don't fantasise already?"

She giggled and tugged on his tie playfully. "Do you?" she countered.

The Doctor hesitated for a second before admitting, almost silently, "Yes."

"Didn't think Time Lords did that," she commented, immensely pleased with his answer.

"Neither did I," he muttered. "Lots of things Time Lords aren't supposed to do that you make me do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes," he affirmed gruffly, and groaned when she shifted against him to flex her thigh muscles.

"Sorry," she grinned, not sounding apologetic in the least. "Had to move just then; my legs are starting to ache."

Keeping his eyes closed, he suggested, "I think you'd better leave now, because we both know that if you don't we'll end up ignoring our careful, rational reasoning and well, who knows what might happen."

"How long should we wait, do you think?"

"Oh Rassilon, I don't know!" he exclaimed, his eyes flying open. "You really think I'm the best person to decide this? It feels like I've wanted you forever anyway, so a day, a week, a month longer and I doubt it'll make much difference to how much I -"

She cut him off with another long, thorough snog, which he realised instantly was very counter-productive to their decision but couldn't bring himself to pull away from. He closed his eyes again and gave over to sensation, circling his thumbs over her bare skin as his hands resumed their wandering up her legs. And then, Rose's mouth had disappeared and so had her warm body atop his and he quickly opened his eyes.

"Okay, so let's, um," she mumbled, breathless again and trying to scramble some coherent sentences together.

He watched her as she leant against the console, watched how she clutched it firmly beneath her hands as if she was either going to fall over or leap towards him again to continue their snog.

"Go to bed," he told her, struggling to remain seated and not follow her. "I'll see you in the morning and, uh. We'll have breakfast with your Mum, take Mickey on a few more adventures; you and he can pick which planets or time periods. And then..."

"And then?" she prompted.

"Then...we'll see."

She took a long, heated look at him, eyes travelling up his body, pausing briefly at a certain location that was very displeased with his timings of his plan, continued up before pausing on his face, drinking in the flustered, hair-mussed Doctor. Her flustered, hair-mussed Doctor. "I really, really want to skip ahead to that part of the plan," she informed him.

He arched a wry eyebrow. "We'd be there right now if you hadn't stopped us earlier."

She ran a hand through her hair and looked annoyed at herself. "Yeah..."

"You were right to, though," he assured her. "Anyway, like I said, we've gone this long resisting, so..."

"A little while longer won't hurt," she finished for him.

"Exactly."

She tied her dressing gown back up. "Guess it prolongs the anticipation, too," she suggested.

"Yes, definitely," he replied, nodding.

"Right then."

"Yeah."

"See you in the morning," she smiled, and started walking out of the console room.

"Yes." He paused, turning his head to watch her leave. "Goodnight, Rose," he finished softly.

"Night, Doctor."

Once she was out of sight, the Doctor jumped to his feet, did a brief little dance of joy that things were at least heading in the right direction between them, then promptly realised how uncomfortably tight those suit trousers of his were, and dashed to the bathroom for a nice, long shower.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Hello :) Thanks to everyone for all your reviews so far, they've really made me smile. I hope you enjoy this chapter! x**_

_**Part 5**_

-:-

Jackie woke up earlier than usual and, as there were to be more people than simply her for breakfast this morning, she decided to cook a fry up for them all.

Mickey was the first to exit the TARDIS. Following the smell of bacon and eggs, he grinned.

"Something smells delicious," he complimented, sitting down at the table.

"Morning, love," called Jackie, loading up a plateful of food and placing it down in front of him. "Eat up! Got to have a good breakfast with all the adventuring you do now, eh?" Mickey agreed around a mouthful of food. Jackie did make an excellent fried breakfast. "Coffee or tea?" she asked him.

"Coffee, please," he answered, and chuckled. He nodded his head towards the direction of Rose's room, where the TARDIS was parked. "They have tea nonstop on that ship."

Jackie looked proud. "That's because I saved the Doctor with my good old tea at Christmas, and now he loves the stuff."

Mickey laughed, and it was then that the Doctor showed up. He'd heard a bit of their conversation as he'd arrived, and told Jackie, "I did like tea _before, _you know. I didn't go nine hundred years without tasting the stuff, only for the famous Jackie Tyler to give me some and show me the error of my ways. I was drinking tea way before you people pretended it was a traditional British beverage. I even pushed boxes at the Boston Tea Party," he proclaimed, raising his eyebrows.

Jackie mock-glared at him and ordered him to sit down, shut up, and eat his breakfast. The Doctor grinned cheerfully at her and did as he was told.

"So," Jackie began, sitting down at the table with a plateful for herself. "Where's Rose?"

Mickey smirked into his cup of coffee.

The Doctor looked at Jackie innocently. "How would I know?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "Don't play ignorant with me." Then, she waggled her eyebrows, which was quite horrifying in the Doctor's opinion.

"I literally have no idea what you're implying," said the Doctor haughtily, shoving a forkful of bacon into his mouth. He chewed it, watching Jackie look at him with suspicion. "_What?" _he demanded.

"It's alright, you know," offered Mickey graciously. He sighed a bit but shrugged in a what-can-you-do sort of acquiescence. "You can admit it."

"Admit _what?"_

"That she's...you know..." Jackie continued.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at them both. "That she's _what?"_

"In bed," answered Jackie and Mickey simultaneously.

The Time Lord stared at them in confusion. "Well, a) no she isn't, because I checked her room before coming in here and she wasn't there, so I assumed she was already here with you, and b) why would I need to _admit _that? It's perfectly fine if she's still asleep, isn't it? She often takes awhile to get up in the mornings. Basic fact of Rose Tyler, that is. Although today it seems she _has _woken up at a normal hour and wandered off. I don't know where she is, though. It's not as if we're joined at the hip or something." The Doctor shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

Mickey and Jackie exchanged a look.

"Oh," mumbled Jackie.

"'Oh' what?" asked the Doctor.

"I thought maybe you two had..." suggested Mickey.

"After all, you did tell her that you love her, so..." continued Jackie reasonably.

"We just assumed that you both sort of...er..."

"Consummated it, last night," finished Jackie.

The Doctor choked on his tea. "Am I seriously hearing this conversation? Is this really happening, or did someone accidently drug me?"

"What?"

"Don't you think it's a _little _odd?" asked the Doctor, his eyes darting between them. "The ex-boyfriend and the mother, talking to the, uh...whatever the hell I am, about...this?"

"No," replied Jackie. Then she revised her decision. "Well. Well, I suppose, actually...when you put it like that..."

Mickey tilted his head to the side, contemplative. "Yeah, it is a bit odd," he agreed.

"Right. So. Can we not talk about that please?"

"So you did?" asked Jackie.

"Did what?"

"Have sex with -"

"La, la, la, la, la, can't hear you!" interrupted the Doctor, slamming his hands over his ears.

Jackie folded her arms. "I have a right to know, Doctor."

"Bingle bongle dingle dangle la la la can't hear a word you're saying, Jackie, sorry!"

Mickey shook his head as he drank the rest of his coffee. "This is the alien she left me for," he muttered to Jackie.

The Doctor instantly stopped his nonsensical ramblings. "Oi!"

"Just saying," Mickey shrugged, holding back a laugh. "I used to think it was weird, that she'd go for a centuries-older-than-her guy, but now I've realised that you're just as immature as most teenage human boys."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Just because I don't want to hear Jackie talking about the sex I may or may not have had with her daughter, it does not mean I'm immature, thanks! In fact, I think it mean I'm rather sensible!"

Jackie leant forwards, her elbows on the table as she fixed a scrutinising look on the Doctor, as if trying to stare him out. He ignored her.

"She was like this with me, too," confided Mickey. "Except I wasn't allowed in Rose's bedroom. House rules or something. This time it's as if she's _encouraging _you, so there is that."

The Doctor snorted. "Jackie had rules for Rose bringing her boyfriend back? Bit hypocritical, isn't it Jackie?"

"Oi!" she exclaimed, and threw a bit of toast at him. Then she turned to Mickey. "As a matter of fact, I'm not 'encouraging it' with him, I'm just interested because he's an alien and Rose told me once that he has two hearts, and I was wondering if there's anything _else _he has two of."

Mickey and the Doctor stared at her in mutual horror.

"Wh-what?" stuttered the Doctor.

"You're perverted, Jackie," said Mickey.

"What! Well, you're her ex-boyfriend, why did _you _want to know?" she demanded of Mickey.

"So that we can make some boundaries, so that I know where I am not likely to walk on it when I'm on the TARDIS with them!" Mickey answered pragmatically.

"Oh," muttered Jackie.

The Doctor considered banging his head against the table, but then realised he still had half a plate of food left, so he didn't.

There was an awkward silence for precisely forty seven seconds.

"It's not weird and different, is it?" piped up Jackie.

The Doctor sighed. "What?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Time Lord sex."

"Jackie!" he groaned in annoyance. "Can we _please _talk about something else?"

She shrugged. "If you answer my questions, I won't keep going on about it."

He rolled his eyes. "In that case: no, Rose and I did not consummate anything last night; no, I do not have two sets of reproductive organs; and no, Time Lord sex is _not _weird and different. Alright?"

That was when he realised neither Jackie nor Mickey were looking at him while he was speaking. They were actually staring over his shoulder. Ah.

Rose coughed pointedly and the Doctor slowly turned his head to face her. "Good morning, Rose," he said, and grinned sheepishly. Thankfully, she looked amused.

"Honestly, the conversations I'm overhearing this week," she muttered to herself as she made a cup of tea.

Jackie and Mickey resumed eating their breakfast, the former with a smug smile on her face as she watched the Doctor watch Rose.

When Rose sat down without any food, the Doctor frowned. "Are you okay?" he asked her quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled.

"Why aren't you eating anything? That's not like you," he teased gently.

"Oi!" she said, through a laugh. Then she shrugged. "I'm just not feeling hungry right now."

"Oh. Okay." He sounded dubious.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying! I'm not ill or anything, I'm just not hungry."

"Alright then," he concluded. "We'll stop somewhere for lunch before an adventure, though. You shouldn't run for your life on an empty stomach." He grinned at her and she stole the last bit of his bacon off his plate. The grin slipped off his face. "Hey now, that's mine!" he protested, but he was too late. Beaming at him teasingly, she ate it.

"Happy now?" she asked.

He mock-scowled and reached over the table to tickle her in punishment, but as he did so he caught Jackie's knowing eye and withdrew sharply, folding his arms in defiance.

-:-

After breakfast, the Doctor and Mickey chatted in the living room about something computer-y that is developed in the future, and Rose took the opportunity to have a quiet chat with her mum in the kitchen.

Helping her wash up, Rose tentatively began, "I've, um. Decided."

Jackie handed her a plate to dry with the tea towel, before submerging her hands back beneath the soapy water to wash another. She had a smug smile on her face when she replied, "Good."

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Rose murmured, biting her lip.

"Yep. He may not have got any last night, but that happy expression on his face told me that he's definitely been promised some at some point."

"Mum!" she exclaimed, blushing pink.

"What?" Jackie chuckled.

They were quiet for a few moments, but then Rose admitted, "I'm still scared."

"Why?"

"Because this...I've faced aliens that want to kill me, right, and aliens who want to take over the World, and aliens who look and act and _breathe _evil...and this? Facing an alien who _loves me? _This is the scariest thing of all."

Jackie nodded. "I won't pretend to understand how it's possible that two people so different - different species, even – can fit together the way you two do, but...but really, the facts are all very simple. You love each other. You make each other laugh. You're attracted to each other. Please just have as much time as you can together and grab all the happiness you can, because god knows you both deserve it."

She breathed out roughly and scrubbed at a plate. "See? Simple. Just..._be alive, _Rose." She stopped washing up and turned to face her, grasping her upper arms in her wet hands. "I've never been the adventuring sort. Look at me. All my life, I've just stayed still. But you...god, Rose, you're so much like your Dad in that you take risks and aren't afraid to do so. And those schemes of his, they may not have worked out, but they could've, one day, maybe, if he'd...if he'd had the chance, if I'd've _shown _him more that I believe in him..." She trailed off and stared at her daughter imploringly. "If the Doctor is who you want, and that lifestyle of his is what you want, then go for it, and don't spend time worrying or regretting, just _live."_

Rose swallowed, and nodded in agreement. "But...but is it okay to still be scared?"

Jackie laughed. "Of course, sweetheart. Loving someone so completely _is _the scariest thing in the universe, whether that someone's an alien who's lived lifetimes or not."

Rose smiled and wrapped her arms around her mum tightly. "Thanks, Mum," she breathed into her shoulder. "One more question, though," Rose added, as she pulled back and looked Jackie right in the eye.

"Yeah?" she prompted.

"Me and the Doctor," Rose started, lowering her voice. "We've decided to, um. Take things slowly. That's a good idea, right?"

"If you can actually last at that, I'll be very surprised, love," Jackie chuckled wisely.

Rose frowned. "I am capable of restraining myself, you know," she huffed. "After all, I've travelled with him for over a year and not..."

"Different now, though, isn't it?" Jackie pointed out. "Now you know that he most definitely wouldn't be opposed to the idea..."

"Suppose..." Rose relented, sighing. "Oh blimey. This is gonna be torture."

"Maybe you've waited long enough already?" Jackie suggested.

"Maybe, but now we've agreed to wait it out, I'm not gonna be the one to show weakness and suggest we break the agreement."

Jackie rolled her eyes. "You are the most stubborn girl in the World, Rose Tyler."

Rose harrumphed, "No I'm not," and then joined her mum in a series of giggling fits as they finished tidying up the kitchen.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Part 6**_

-:-

After an hour or so, the three time travellers bade farewell to Jackie and boarded the TARDIS again. Mickey requested a trip to the planet Agoao, which the Doctor had mentioned to him earlier on. Apparently there were massive futuristic computers there that let you physically enter some virtual reality – like a super-duper video game, or something. Rose wasn't really listening. She wasn't that interested, to be honest. She was far too caught up in how her real life was going to pan out over the course of the next few days. Already she was day-dreaming about the Doctor abandoning their go-slow policy and taking her to bed –

"Rose?" repeated the Doctor, wiggling his fingers in front of her face.

"Oh! Sorry, were you, um, talking to me? I was in my own world for a sex – _sec_, I mean – I was in my own world for a second there. Was what I meant to say. Don't know why I said...yeah. Anyway." Her cheeks were pink, and she cleared her throat firmly.

The Doctor just raised his eyebrows. "One day," he said slowly, "I'm going to take you to meet Freud."

She pulled a face at him and sat down on the jumpseat. She glanced around her. "Oh. Where did Mickey go?"

He couldn't help but grin smugly. "Did you forget about him _again, _Rose Tyler?"

"Shut up," Rose muttered. "No, I didn't. I just didn't really realise he'd left the room."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, flipped a lever on the console, and came and sat beside her. "He announced, quite clearly, that he was going to grab his camera. He'll be back in a mo." He stretched his arm out along the seat. "So. What were you thinking about, just then?"

His thumb brushed her shoulder briefly. Then not-so-briefly and in a more sort of stroking pattern. Rose let out a long breath. "Nothing interesting," she replied hastily.

"No?" he asked, sounding dubious. He tilted his head towards hers. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," she squeaked, and jumped up to put some space between them. "So this planet, then. Has it got any shops?"

"What, don't fancy partaking in a bit of virtual-world gaming?" he grinned, lifting his legs and cross his ankles on the console.

"Not really," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I much prefer reality as it is, thanks." She couldn't help but run her gaze down the length of his stretched-out body.

"Do you?" he smirked, running a hand through his hair absently.

"Mmhmm," she assured him, swallowing hard. Jesus. What was wrong with her?

The Doctor suddenly sprung up, advancing towards her. "Did you know, though," he began, in that voice he used to tempt her into doing things. "That on Agoao, you can sit in these technological seat things and put on this special headset thing and - "

"Sounds sexy," she muttered, already bored.

He scowled at her and continued as though she hadn't interrupted, "- and let your imagination run away with you, creating a world around you, which lets you act out any aspect of your life that you want to relive, or conjure into existence. You could walk through an old memory – or make a new one." He lowered his voice, leaning closer to her. "Enjoy a cinematic experience of any of your deepest, darkest desires."

Rose's breath hitched. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, pupils dilating.

Then Rose found her voice. "Why would I want act out my desires in my head when I could do it for real?" she murmured.

The Doctor's lips twitched into a smile. He closed the distance between them somewhat, pressing her against the console as he leant in and brushed his nose against hers affectionately. "That's a very good point," he whispered. His hands sat comfortably on her hips. They both closed their eyes.

Their lips had barely touched when the flash went off.

"Mickey!" Rose exclaimed, her cheeks flushing red as she quickly pushed the Doctor away.

"Photographic evidence for Jackie," Mickey joked, shaking his camera at them.

The Doctor tugged on his ear (the wonky one, according to Rose), a bit embarrassed that they'd gotten a little carried away. "Ahem, right, off we go then..."

-:-

Rose declined the offer of partaking in the virtual reality experience. She didn't need to get any more frustrated than she already was. Thankfully, the Doctor agreed with her, and they let Mickey join a group of aliens playing at being footballers whilst they went to visit the local market.

After literally three minutes of wandering the stalls, the Doctor seized her hand in his and entwined their fingers. The short delay between the time they were away from Mickey and the time he picked up her hand was due to the overwhelming tension that had suddenly arisen between them. Luckily it wasn't a bad sort of tension – just the sort of deliciously challenging tension that made him want to pull her towards him and resolve things right there and then, in the middle of a market square. So he'd refrained from holding her hand at first, a little worried he'd be unable to resist touching her elsewhere; but three minutes was long enough for him to realise that he couldn't break a habit of a lifetime, as it were – for this whole life as his new new self he had been holding her hand at every plausible opportunity, even more than before his regeneration.

Rose let out a breath of relief when he squeezed her hand reassuringly, a familiar sensation, and looked up at him with grateful eyes. However, she couldn't help but point out, "Now that we've both acknowledged that, um, it's gonna happen at some stage, it's gonna be impossible to act like we were before. You know. Just friends and that."

He sent her a wry smile and murmured, "I don't think we've ever really just been friends."

His words sent a frisson of pleasure through her. Just hearing that he'd always felt more for her than she'd ever assumed made her feel…fantastic. "I like it when you say stuff like that."

"Well, it's true." He stopped walking and drew her to a stop too, turning to face her properly. "Rose."

"Yeah?"

"I want to make you happy, and I want to do whatever you want regarding our…relationship. We can wait for whatever length of time you want before we – well. Just know that I don't want to rush you."

"Why are you - " she began, wondering why he was saying all this in that moment – for she already knew that he'd respect her wishes to go slowly. But she broke off abruptly as he tilted his head towards her. "Oh," she murmured instead. "Are you saying all that because you don't want me to misinterpret your actions?"

"I'm saying it because I know that however much I want you, however much I sometimes feel like I won't be able to resist making love to you for another moment, I completely do have the strength to hold back until we're truly ready. What I mean is, I want to kiss you, and I think we could do that, couldn't we? That comes under the definition of going slowly, surely, starting off with kissing and things and waiting for the other stuff?"

"So this is your long-winded way of asking for a snog?" she smiled.

"I suppose it is," he smiled back.

She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Then by all means, snog away," she replied cheekily.

The Doctor's arms came to rest around her waist, securing her firmly against him as he pressed his lips gently to hers. It was a good while before they drew back for breath, and when they did, they gave each other a shaky smile.

Then Rose announced, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this, because apparently I'm stubborn like that when it comes to sticking by my own decisions, _but…_I think maybe we should just go back to the TARDIS and - "

The Doctor pressed a finger to her lips, making her pause. "Wait a moment. Are you _really _ready? Last night you did say that this is all happening rather quickly - "

It was her turn to interrupt him. "Ah, but then you effectively said, earlier, that we've always been heading for this. Plus, Mum reckons we should just go for it."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh and we must listen to Jackie talk about our love life, because that is _completely _normal."

"Hey, me and mum are close, we tell each other everything."

He raised a dubious eyebrow, pretty sure that they didn't, then leant forwards, bending his head to whisper in her ear, "Well I reckon that you won't tell your mother a single thing about what's going to happen later."

Rose shivered and grinned. "Is that right?"

"Oh yes. There are some things that a mother must not know about what her daughter gets up to."

"Promises, promises," she teased.

"On the contrary, Rose Tyler," he said, drawing back to his full height. "I have detailed, detailed plans that are most definitely able to be brought forward, if you really want. Otherwise, like I said, we can wait."

"Yeah, I don't think I can," she admitted, now uncaring about her pride. It had been…well, a long time. And now that she knew that he loved her, properly loved her, and evidently wanted her as well, she didn't want to _waste_ any more time.

So she did what she always did in front of the Doctor in order to persuade him in some way. She tilted her head and smiled up at him, swaying on her feet slightly. That was all she ever needed to do – eyelash fluttering wasn't even required, although sometimes she did that too just for the fun of it.

His steady gaze darkened and he exhaled roughly. "If you're sure," he murmured.

"I am," she said definitively. "I love you and I want to - "

Unfortunately, that was the moment when Rose was interrupted by an untimely scream. It wasn't very loud, sounding like it came from a distance away, but nonetheless they heard it. They both turned around in alarm, the Doctor's hearts beating incredibly fast in a way that was more to do with the fact that Rose Tyler had just told him she loved him than any pre-emptive adrenaline caused by the scream of distress.

"What was that?" Rose asked hurriedly. "Is someone in danger?"

Other people in the market square had started to look in the direction that the single scream had come from, but most shrugged it off and went back to selling and buying their wares. But the Doctor and Rose felt uneasy.

"I don't know," he murmured. "But that wasn't a happy scream."

"There are happy screams?" Rose asked distractedly, as they started to walk forwards.

"Of course there are," he replied, giving her a sideways glance. When she still didn't pick up in what he meant, he coughed awkwardly and then muttered for her ears only, "You'll be doing so later."

"Screaming happily?" she asked, frowning, and then widened her eyes as she realised what he meant. She stifled a laugh. "Oh my god. Someone could be in trouble and you are seriously still thinking about ways to get me to scream your name?"

He shrugged non-committally and grabbed her hand, tugging her into a brisk jog. "Let's see what's going on, shall we? The noise came from this building, I reckon."

"Yeah, I think so too," she agreed. They tested both doors of the warehouse-like building situated about half a mile away from the market, but to no avail. "Sonic it," Rose whispered.

"Yes, ma'am," the Doctor murmured back, and unlocked the door with his sonic screwdriver.

"Perfect," she complimented cheekily, as they entered the abandoned room. "What do you think this used to be, then? Some sort of recreation centre? Like a youth club or something?"

He pondered her words as he took in the still-present games. Something to this planet's approximation of a dartboard was located in the corner, and a billiards-like table with purple balls the size of oranges was in the middle of the room, surrounded by various other games and activities; all covered in dust. "How odd," he murmured.

Rose glanced across the other side of the room, and noticed another door, chained closed. "Oh, there's another room," she started to say.

And then they heard another scream, only this one was very loud, and very, very close.


End file.
